Day by Day
by Evanna23
Summary: Snapshots of Lee Jordan and Katie Bell's life through Hogwarts. A 500-word daily drabble, going over the period of a year; each one based off of one word.
1. Jilt - August 14th

**Hello! This will just be a daily drabble each one featuring either Lee Jordan or Katie Bell. They're based off of one word, but you can just view them as snapshots of their points of views. :)  
**

**For some background, Lee Jordan is Fred and George Weasley's best friend and accomplice in mischief. He commentates for the Quidditch matches, and often attempts to flirt with Angelina Johnson.**

**Katie Bell is a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch teams, she's best friends with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, despite her being one year below them (making her a year older than Harry and his friends). She was used by Draco Malfoy in her 7th year in an attempt to murder Albus Dumbledore.  
**

**Any other details will be covered in the actual writing!**

jilt: to reject or cast aside, especially abruptly or unfeelingly

_Lee Jordan, Fourth Year, 1992_

"So, will you go out with me?" the dark-skinned boy was jogging backwards, keeping up with the beautiful Angelina and the two girls that were almost always by her side, Alicia and Katie. Although they were walking normally, Lee had not registered it just yet, and continued to follow them backwards.

"I already told you, Jordan. No." Angelina said harshly and completely emotionless. She didn't even look at him.

"Why not?" Lee continued, appearing to be completely unaffected.

"Because _I_ don't _want_ to. Get it through your thick head already." Angelina continued to look straight ahead, unlike Lee, who stumbled over a pebble or twig occasionally. Never falling, just stumbling for a moment.

"If my head was thinner, would you want to?"

"No." Angelina continued to completely ignore his persistence.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't care what you look like. I don't care how big or small, or how thin or thick your head is, I don't want to date you."

"Why? Is there someone else on your mind?" it pained Lee to consider the possible fact, but he hid it well.

"If I say 'yes,' will you go away?"

"No." Lee answered honestly, relief flooding through him. He could tell that her "hidden yes" was a bluff. Angelina, completely unaware of his renewed courage to stay and persist, clinched her jaw, looking ready to murder him.

"No, Jordan. I will not date you." she said, sounding like she was about to burst.

"Pretty please?" Lee continued, unafraid of her temper.

"No."

"What'd go wrong? I'm not gonna break your heart or anything." He grinned cheekily when she suddenly halted and turned to glare at him.

The entire group paused on the grassy field. Alicia and Katie were entirely silent, already having witnessed confrontations such as this, even though the year had only just begun. Angelina's temper was flying, her patience all but gone, not that she had much to begin with; and Lee, enjoying himself entirely too much, his cheekiness growing by the second.

"I'm not _worried_ about you _'breaking my heart'_ because you don't even _have_ my heart to begin with. So just bugger off already, won't you?" Angelina exploded, Lee's grin never faltered.

"Alright! Alright! Don't hurt me! I'll get out of your hair." Jordan started off back towards the direction he was originally going in before throwing over his shoulder, "For today!"

"LEE!" Angelina spun around, ready to flay him alive, only to find that he was already walking off. His head held, hands in his pockets, whistling cheerfully; happy that she said his first name. But at the same time, trying to push away the hurt and rejection he felt.

_Why does she have to be so beautiful?_ He questioned inwardly, silently sighing, making his way up to the Gryffindor dormitories, where Fred and George would be cooking up a prank. They were probably wondering where he was anyways. Lee comforted himself, _At least they like having me around._

_oooo_

Words: 514


	2. Dither - August 15th

dither: to act irresolutely(doubtful, unsure); vacillate(wavering, indecisive, hesitating)

_Katie Bell, 2nd Year, 1991_

Katie walked out of the Transfiguration classroom feeling very accomplished. She had managed to complete all of the transfiguration assignments given to complete over the weekend before the class was even over. Now she could enjoy the rest of the peaceful, sunny, Friday afternoon. Almost. Some strange urge in her had lead to her writing 'Katie Bell' under 'Chaser' for the Quidditch try-outs. _I mean, I love Quidditch matches and the sport is really very thrilling. But me? Playing in it? No... that just doesn't seem possible._ She had been going over and over it, trying to decide; but there was always _something_ wrong with her choice.

If she decided against it, she would always feel like she didn't try, and would probably end up skipping all of the games that year due to guilt. She would have to explain to her little sister why she changed her mind, after promising to get onto the team. And, in all honesty, she would have to explain it to herself. Why not join? As a little girl, she loved Quidditch. She loved going to matches with her family, she loved watching them play, and she always told herself that one day she too would be zipping around on a broomstick in front of a crowd. She wasn't half bad of a player, either. People have always told her that she had natural potential to do well. And she simply loved the feel of the wind blowing through her hair so wickedly fast. _But_, she didn't have enough strength or courage to ram up against the opposing team players, which is pretty much a "you're going to have to do it whether you want to or not" in Quidditch. She didn't have that good of a throwing arm, and if she went up too high in the air, she would get queasy. After all, it was good _potential_ she had, not actual _skill_.

Although, then again, it would be a few months before the first game of the season, and she would be practicing multiple times a week for those few months, so by the time she'd actually be counted on by her teammates, she would have been able to have overcome those things. And if her "potential" turned out to be false, then Wood wouldn't choose her to be on the team. But then there's that. _What if I make a complete and utter fool of myself out there?_ She could humiliate herself so badly, that for the rest of her six years at Hogwarts, people would be joking about it. That it would go on her permanent record. They might even continue it _outside_ of Hogwarts even _after_ they graduated. Oh, but _the look_ her sister would give her at Christmas when she found out she wasn't on the team.

Katie sighed, and flopped down onto her bed. _What am I going to do?_ she wondered, _My name's on the board, I have to go. I guess I could call sick... but then I would have to act sick too, so no. I could just be up front with Wood and tell him I changed my mind... but no, I'm not even sure I've changed my mind. Actually, I don't think I've ever had my mind set on one or the other... I guess I could just go along with it, I mean, who cares if I suck at the try-outs? People have done more embarrassing things.._

Katie looked up at the clock she kept by her bed, and quickly jumped up. It was twenty minutes before the try-outs would begin. "Shoot!" she hissed under her breath, over and over again, as she scrambled together everything she needed, and hurriedly changed into her Quidditch uniform. Just as she raced out the door, she again wondered despairingly, _Why am I doing this?_

_oooo_

Words: 643


	3. Capitulate - August 16th

capitulate: to surrender unconditionally or on stipulated (to make a demand or arrangement) terms

_Lee Jordan, Fifth Year, 1993_

George threw his trunk up onto the rank above the seats as Fred and Lee sat down.

"So, Lee." George began, sitting down next to him, Fred was sitting across from them. He flicked his wand to slide the compartment door shut. _Uh-oh, never a good sign._ Lee knew that tone all too well.

"How did your summer go? Do anything exciting?" Fred asked, a little too innocently. The train whistle blew as it started to roll forward; and so began their journey back to Hogwarts.

"We were constantly writing back and forth the entire summer, I even went to your house on more than one occasion, you already know what I did..." Lee replied hesitantly, the twins paused for a heartbeat.

"Good point." George finally said, "So, um, why don't you just humor us?" Lee sighed.

"Alright. Me mum and dad toke me to America for two weeks. I went to your guys' house for the night three different times. And... I did things around the house."

"Details, Jordan, details!" Fred urged. _What're they trying to get at?_

"Oh, um, in America we went to Maine to ski and visit relatives for the first week and a half, and then we went up to Canada to the Quidditch match that toke place there this year. Um, after I got back I went to your house to stay the night, I was greeted very kindly by your mum and yeah. That happened two more times, and, so, yeah." Jordan finished awkwardly, as Fred and George watched and listened. "So, uh, what'd you guys do?" _This is so weird..._

"We..." Fred started, "accepted made a bet"

"And I'm part of it?" Lee guessed.

"Not literally speaking." George filled in, "but you _can_ greatly help us." Relief spread through Lee, _Good. I was really beginning to worry about them._

"What was the bet, and how do you want me to help?" Lee inquired the obvious question.

"We made a bet to see who could collect at least one of each Chocolate Frog Card, by the end of the year, first. With Ginny at that." George informed him. "She has all but one, and we have all but three."

"We made the bet a few weeks ago, so we've been able to begin collecting already." Fred added. They didn't really have any desire to collect the cards, and Ginny did, so she already had the advantage.

"Okay, but you know I don't really have very many cards, so I don't see how I could help you here and now..." Lee stated, going over in his head what cards he had.

"True, _but_ the three cards we need are Montague Knightly, Norvel Twonk, and Paracelsus." Jordan immediately understood.

"You _have_ to be kidding." Fred and George shook their heads slowly. "There's no way I'm giving you my Paracelsus card! Do you know how rare he is?"

"_Please_, mate! We _need_ it!" Fred begged, "We can't lose to our little sister!"

"But-" Lee faltered, _Well, I guess I don't _really_ need it, after all, I'm not much of a collector._ "Would I get anything in return?"

"No?" George said much too childlike, and looked up at Lee with puppy dog eyes. "_Pweease?_" Lee sighed, those two really were willing to do anything to win a competition. He looked out the window and watched the landscape fly by for a moment.

"Fine."

"Really!?" Fred burst out.

"Yeah, I'll give it to you guys tonight when we go to our dormitories."

"YES! Thank you, Lee! Thank you!" George punched the air in triumph. _I can only begin to imagine what they'll do to get the other two cards..._

_oooo_

Words: 643


	4. Deprecate - August 17th

**Alright, I know this one's a bit late, but I had a very busy day, so I'm just glad I got it up! :) (Besides, it's only late by an hour, that's not _that_ bad, is it?)**

deprecate: to disapprove of; or to belittle (to regard as less impressive or important)

_Katie Bell, 1st Year, 1990_

Katie waved goodbye to her parents, "I'll be safe! I promise!" she called over her shoulder.

"Okay, but just please be sure to write to us often! We'll miss you!" Her mom called over the noise of the train station. Her father nodding and smiling softly at her, pride glimmering in his eyes.

"I'll miss you too! And I will write a lot! Tonight I'll tell you all about it, and I'll explain how to use owl post too!"

"Alright, sounds good. We love you sweetie!" Her dad responded, "Better hurry up, or you'll miss the train." Katie smiled and nodded, she waved goodbye to her parents and little sister. Her sister still had tear marks on her eyes from crying over Katie leaving for school, and her voice was too choked up to say goodbye to Katie. Instead she just mournfully, but eagerly, waved "Bye" back.

Katie then turned around, toke a deep breath and closed her eyes. She sprinted as hard as she could into the brick wall; bracing herself for an impact that never came. She felt like something passed over her and she shot her eyes open. Skidding to a halt to avoid running over someone, her eyes widened as she observed the Hogwarts Express. The scarlet red train whistled loudly, as everyone said their last goodbyes.

She started walking towards one of the train doors, pushing her cart in front of her, she was slightly worried as to what would happen if someone came onto the platform while she was still standing there. _It would probably hurt pretty badly._ She reckoned, pushing the images of a cart running her over out of her mind.

After weaving through the crowd and managing to put her luggage on the train, she wandered through the corridors, trying not to get crushed. Eventually, she found an empty cabin to sit in. _Hello, first year, I suppose._ She thought, getting her spirits back up. _Soon I'll have friends to sit with!_

After a few moments of listening to people walk by, talking to their friends, the door slide open. Katie looked up in surprise at two girls that looked to be about her age.

"Hello, do you mind if we sit with you?" The first of the two spoke, she had short blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Oh! Not at all!" Katie exclaimed, excited by the fact that she wouldn't be alone for her first train ride. The blonde girl smiled and they both sat down in front of Katie. "What are your names?"

"I'm Hannah, and this is Olivia." the blonde, Hannah, said and then pointed to the second girl, Olivia. Olivia had short brown hair, and glittering green eyes.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Katie." Katie held out her hand, and each one toke it in turn.

"So, Katie?" Olivia asked softly. "What house are looking forward to entering?"

"Um, well I'm not entirely sure yet. I haven't really given it much thought." Katie mused, realizing that she barely had any clue as to what each of the house names even were, nonetheless which one she would want.

The two girls' smiles faltered. "What house is your family known for getting?" Hannah asked.

"Oh, all of my family are muggles! So, I don't really have any bias towards anything." Katie said cheerfully.

Immediately the girls' faces turned into distaste, "Oh." Hannah said sharply, shocking Katie. _Did I say something wrong?_

"We're going into Slytherin," Olivia stated strongly, "the most cunning and proud of the four houses." And, as though they expected Katie to understand with just that, they got up and left.

"We don't want to sit with a filthy mudblood." Hannah spat over her shoulder. _A what?_ Despite having no clue as to what just happened, tears pricked the edges of Katie's eyes. The disgust in their eyes was enough of a hint. _Did I do something wrong?_

_oooo_

Words: 674

**I don't really like portraying Slytherins like that because I personally love the Slytherin house, but oh well. It had to be done, right?  
**


	5. Lacerate - August 18th

**This one was a bit harder to write for me, hence the delay, I've never pictured Lee like this before, but it was the only way to represent the word that I could think of. I'm getting these words from a daily word thing, so I have no pick in them. And to me, it seems that they've been pretty depressing ones, and it's quite...well, depressing. Hopefully they'll cheer up soon!**

lacerate: to tear roughly, mangle; or to distress or torture mentally or emotionally

_Lee Jordan, 5th Year, 1993_

Lee walked through the Muggle London towards his home. After having spent a lot more time in Diagon Alley than he meant to, Jordan was just about rushing to get home. It was almost completely dark, even though the sun had not yet fully set, the moon was already up and clouds covered most of the sky. Many people had not yet left the streets, so it was still as crowded as ever.

After what seemed like ages, he turned off of the busy street suddenly, and into a quiet, peaceful neighborhood. He slowed to a proper walking pace, and made his way down the barely lit street. His house was the only one on the dead end to still have it's lights on. Most people in his neighbor were early-to-bed goers, and considering that that included his parents, he was left to assume they actually noticed his tardiness tonight and wished to do something about it. _Not good._ Lee muttered in his head over and over again.

Hopefully, they had just forgotten to turn the lights off, or maybe they _hadn't_ noticed he was late and instead completely forgot about him and decided to watch a movie together. Jordan tried to reason with himself as he approached the property. But he knew better than that. He had literally known them his entire life. They never stayed up late unless they absolutely had too, and they never left the lights on accidentally.

_I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die._ He began panicking, thinking of everything his parents had done beforehand to him. Then he shook his head, _No, Lee, positive thoughts. Positive._ He gathered up his courage and opened the front door. As expected, his parents were sitting at the dining table in silence. They looked up when he entered, and almost immediately his father stood up. Soberly, Lee closed the door and walked over to them.

"Lee, what time did we ask you to be back by?" his dad asked him quietly.

"Five."

"And what time is it now?"

Lee glanced at the clock from out of the corner of his eye, "Eight thirty-three."

"We waited for you for a whole _hour_." His mother suddenly got up, "Did you know that we had company over _specifically _for you? Well, did you?!" she demanded more forcefully than her husband.

"N-no." Lee stuttered, frightened.

"_Obviously_." she spat, "Who _knows_ what they could possibly be thinking about you. About _us_!Do you know that you made us look like fools? Like parents that have no power over their ridiculous son?!" she all but shouted at Lee.

Lee opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out.

"Leave." his mother finally snapped after a pause.

Lee's eye's widened, "Wh-what?"

"I don't care where, just go somewhere where I don't have to look at you." Lee stood frozen to the spot, mortified.

"Go to your room." his father clarified, "No dinner." Lee's head dropped as he trudged up the stairs to his room.

Pain tore at his chest. _I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't mean to._ _I didn't know we had company! They could've told me!_ _I would've tried harder to get home sooner! Really, I would have! I thought they were just giving me an about time to get back, like they usually do. _Lee knew that it was no excuse, but he still tried to justify himself; if only to ease the ripping betrayal. _But betrayal towards what? Wasn't it your own fault that you got back so late? _A voice said in his head, tears pricked the edges of Lee's eyes and his hastily wiped them away. After flopping down onto his bed, he tried to forget what was just said to him, like he normally did whenever his parents yelled at him. _It isn't even that late,_ Lee told himself,_ what's to feel guilty about?_ He tried to push away the words his mother said as he attempted to occupy his mind by thinking about the prank Fred and George were planning.

_'Ridiculous son.'_ His mother's voice echoed in his head, and with that, tears fell.

_oooo_

Words: 704


	6. Badinage - August 19th

**Alright! Again, really sorry about the lateness, I will be getting caught up in the next week! Or, at the very least, posting each day. :)**

**Also, I just now noticed that PjoHP . LSR favorited and followed my story a few chapters ago! Thank you! :) (And sorry for not noticing and acknowledging you sooner!)  
**

badinage: light, playful talk

_Katie Bell, Third Year, 1992_

The three girls walked along the path towards Hogsmeade, two of them, Angelina and Alicia were excited to see the lovely little town again and were eager to introduce their younger friend to all the various shops. While their younger friend, Katie, was simply overjoyed to be going on her first Hogsmeade trip. She couldn't help but picture all the different buildings and what might lay within them, she was especially excited to go to the Three Broomsticks, for, as crazy as it sounded, she had never had a butterbeer before.

Her friends were _horrified_ by this news and agreed whole-heartily to take her when she explained her fascination towards the simple store. Their eagerness to showoff to Katie all they knew showed through in their plans for the day. First they would go to Honeydukes to buy goodies to eat while walking through Hogsmeade, and then they would head to the Shrieking Shack and tell her all the stories and myths surrounding the rundown building. After that, they would go to the Hog's Head to eat a quick lunch, then spend the rest of the afternoon going to each shop and getting a few trinkets along the way. To end the day, they would finish at the Three Broomsticks and buy her a butterbeer while they talked about the wondrous day.

The planned day went accordingly, and all too soon they found themselves ordering three drinks at a table by the window.

"So." Angelina started, looking at Katie from across the table. Alicia was sitting by the window next to Katie.

"So." Katie matched her friend's stare. Angelina grinned and soften, a tease glinting in her eyes cheerfully.

"What do you think of Hogsmeade?"

"It's nice, it's not exactly what I was expecting, but I'm not even sure what I _was_ expecting in the first place. It's a nice little town, I like it." Katie glanced around the room, a lot of Hogwarts students had the similar idea to come and finish their day at the little shop.

"I think it's cozy." Alicia added, "Like what you said, Katie, it's a nice little town. I wish I could live here, too bad there aren't any private properties nearby!"

"Yeah, but living here would kind of ruin the charm of the place. First off, the number of people would increase, making it a not so little town; and then to top it you'd see this place each and every day. It wouldn't make it as special to visit." Angelina reasoned, as the waitress set down the butterbeers in front of the three girls. Katie murmured a soft "thank you" under her breathe as she toke the drink, the waitress nodded and smiled before continuing her work.

"True, true." Alicia nodded. "Speaking of which, where _would_ you like to live when you grow up?" The question was directed at both Angelina and Katie.

"I think somewhere in the city," Angelina answered first, "in the middle of all the action. But I would still like it to be a unique place, something that would easily stand out, and I could call my own." Alicia and Katie nodded.

"I'd want my place to be unique, too." Katie replied, "But I'd rather live out in the open country, where I would be free to actually breath. I've never liked cities much." Again, nods bobbing around the table.

"I don't really care where I live." Alicia started bluntly.

"What? You're the one that asked the question!" Angelina burst out, interrupting Alicia.

"I know! I know! I just wanted to know what you guys think, plus, I wasn't done talking." Alicia looked pointedly at Angelina briefly before continuing, "I would rather be out and about doing something and living life to the fullest, you know? So I suppose a small house, or apartment even, that wouldn't come with a lot of responsibility and the likes." Once more, the two friends nodded, taking in the information.

The conversation died down, and the girls went to drinking their butterbeers in an every so slightly awkward silence.

"Alright, so this is a terribly dull chat." Angelina stated the obvious, "Why don't we add a little spice?" She smirked as she immediately caught the attention of the two girls. "_Who_ would you want to live with?" Katie gaped at Angelina, her mind going blank; while Alicia honestly considered the question.

After a pause, Angelina sighed. "I'll go first then. I-"

"Lee." Alicia said suddenly.

"What?" Angelina's eyes went wide.

"You want to live with Jordan." Alicia again stated in all seriousness, even though her eyes were dancing in laughter.

"No! I do not!" She almost yelled, completely and utterly blushing at the thought, "Why would I want to live with him? He's a total git!" She managed to finish more calmly, only seconds before Alicia and Katie burst out laughing. Angelina glared at them with all intensity.

"Now, what were you saying?" Katie asked, after she and Alicia got it together.

"I do not fancy Lee Jordan." Angelina said sternly, "But, I might fancy Wood."

"Might?" Alicia echoed knowingly, grinning mischievously, at the same time that Katie questioned,

"Oliver Wood?"

"No, wood from a tree." Alicia snorted to the little third year; shaking her head at the silliness of her own reply.

"No! I knew what she meant! I was just shocked, and repeated his name." Katie defended herself, even though she knew that Alicia was joking with her. Angelina sighed in exasperation at her two friends.

"Go on, what about you too?" Angelina pushed.

Alicia shrugged, "If we're being totally honest then, Michael."

"Michael what?" Angelina questioned, "There are loads of Michaels."

"Schmidt. Michael Schmidt."

"You _fancy_ Michael Schmidt?!" Angelina yelled.

"Sh, not so loudly!" Alicia immediately hushed her friend, checking to make sure no one noticed the outburst. Which, thankfully, no one did. "Only a bit, it's one of those crushes that'll probably only last a month or so." Angelina sighed, shaking her head.

"Who's Michael Schmidt?" Katie asked, unable to recall having heard his name before.

"A boy in fifth year." Angelina informed, "Or to be precise, a jerk." Katie nodded.

"Your turn." Alicia nudged Katie, apparently eager to get the subject off of her.

"Oh yes," Angelina grinned, "now who has caught the attention of the sweet Katie Bell? Hm?" Angelina teased.

Katie blushed slightly, "Dunno."

"You don't know." Angelina repeated, staring at Katie, until she finally broke.

"Alright! George Weasley." Katie admitted, dearly hoping that news of this wouldn't reach his ears. The two other girls laughed and cooed, making Katie blush even more. But soon enough, the topic was switched and they all went back to the light bantering the conversation had started with.

_oooo_

Words: 1,171


	7. Abscond - August 20th

abscond: to depart secretly

_Lee Jordan, 7th Year, 1995_

Lee entered the great hall after being dismissed. _Finally, lunch time._ He looked for the red-headed twins sitting at the table, but after not after spotting them, he concluded that they hadn't been dismissed yet. So instead, he chose a sit near the middle of the long tables and began eating. Before he had barely begun, or had even noticed they had entered the Great Hall, the twins sat themselves on either side of him.

"Are you busy tonight?" Fred asked straightforwardly, quietly, so no one heard him, but not a suspicious quiet either. The students around them went on with their lunch, without a second thought the infamous group of troublemakers.

"No, I don't believe so." Lee matched Fred's tone, very much used to these sudden plans.

"Wonderful. We'll meet up in the Common Room at ten, then?" George asked, before stuffing his mouth with food; it was then that Fred noticed the delicious looking plates of food all around him, and he began filling his plate as well.

"Works with me. Any mind to telling me what it is we're doing?" Lee asked, already knowing the answer.

"Nope." the twins replied easily, turning their attention entirely to the food.

"Alright then." Lee went back to eating. _Common Room, 10 PM._ Lee repeated to himself, excitement and curiosity bubbled up inside him. He rushed through the day, barely focusing. This was the first discreet thing the twins had come up with this year, it was delayed due to the unbearable Umbridge, who had taken up that year's teaching position of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Not a moment too soon, the clock nearly touched the ten and Lee slipped out of the dormitory; noting that the twins hadn't entered their shared room once that night. _Where are they?_

He entered the Common Room, which at first, looked deserted. It wasn't until he rounded the couch next to the empty fire place that he found them sitting on the said couch.

"Ah, Jordan!" George exclaimed, "Come to the party, at last!"

"At last?" Lee questioned, glancing at the clock, "It's 9:59, I'm not even late!"

"Too true." Fred stated before jumping up, "Let's go."

"Where is it we're going, exactly?" Lee question as they made their way out of the Gryffindor Tower.

"The Forbidden Forest." George answered.

"Sweet!"

They slipped out from behind the portrait of the Fat Lady, carefully, as to not wake her. Creeping and weaving down and through the staircases, the three boys kept their eyes out for Mrs. Norris, Filch, or worse, Peeves.

As silently as they could, they slipped out the doors of the castle, and started jogging towards the path down to Hagrid's house. Keeping low to the ground, the boys ran down the sloping hill; once they made it a point where they could see Hagrid's house, it quickly became obvious to them that Hagrid was not yet asleep.

"Well, that complicates matters." Fred muttered under his breathe.

"We could go around the back of the house." Jordan suggested, pointing to the grassy pumpkin field that spread out behind the little hut.

"All we have to do is hope that Hagrid doesn't look out his back window." George replied after surveying the idea.

"And the pumpkins will help hide us if he does, and if we're careful and quiet." Fred added while he nodded, liking the idea, "Let's do it."

Once again, they almost practically slid down the rest of the hill. After they were on flat ground they started bounding towards the pumpkins, being careful to dodge the light coming from the windows of Hagrid's hut.

They reached the field and they began to crawl through the leafy foliage, trying not to rustle too much or crush many leaves; they were especially careful when it came to trying to not disturb the growing pumpkins. Hagrid would murder them for sure if he found out they did.

At about midway through the pumpkin patch it became very light, very suddenly.

"Get down!" Fred hissed. Lee immediately flatted himself against the ground, feeling multiple leaves crush beneath him.

"Who's out 'ere?" Lee heard Hagrid's booming voice call out as he shined the light over the field. _Don't see us. Don't see us. Don't see us._ Lee repeated over and over again in his head, squeezing his eyes shut; his heart racing a million beats per second.

After what seemed like decades, Hagrid finally grumbled, and turned to go back inside. Once they were sure that the coast was clear they started to crawl again; this time trying to be even more quiet than before.

Reaching the edge, they got up and brushed the dirt off before Fred took the lead.

"Come on, it's this way." He whispered, indicating his head towards the towering trees. They entered the forest, and made their way into the trees.

"How far is it?" Lee panted out, they hiked for what felt like an hour. They must have been nearing the heart of the forest, if not already in it.

"Not far now." George answered, peering into the trees ahead, "Any moment now." Soon enough, Fred held up his hand to stop them.

"Here it is." He went back to whispering, Fred led them lower to the ground up to a point behind thick bushes that were on the edge of a large clearing.

"We're not entirely sure what it is, or why it's here-"

"Or why it's tied up-"

"But here it is, one of the great secrets of Hogwarts, I suppose." the twins filled Jordan in, gesturing towards what was in the clearing. Lee crept closer to the edge of the bush, and peered over. His eyes widen and his jaw slacked.

"That's a giant, that is." He whispered once he got a hold of himself again. And sure enough, there was an eight foot giant, waltzing in the clearing. Who was, actually, literally waltzing.

"Wicked, right?" the twins asked together.

"Wicked." Lee repeated, awe thick in his voice.

_oooo_

Words: 1,035


	8. Ameliorate - August 21st

**Wow, how long has it been since I updated? Sorry! This isn't much of a "daily" drabble is it? Oh well, hopefully I'll manage to get caught up real soon. My schedule's getting less busy, so I should be able to write some more. :)**

**This chapter is quite a bit longer than I originally intended, but I hope no one minds too much!**

**Also, Thanks goes to aoifegym for reviewing last chapter and PjoHp . LSR for reviewing to the chapter before that! :)  
**

ameliorate: to make better; to improve

_Katie Bell, 5th Year, 1993_

Katie's eyes flickered open to the early morning light slipping past the curtains. She yawned and stretched. _What is today? Saturday?_ Katie sat up and pulled the bed curtains opened, she picked up the watch sitting on her table and checked the time. Standing up, she opened the window curtains and let the soft, early morning light flow into the room. She looked around the room, noting that she was the first one to wake up, and started to get ready for the first Saturday of the school year.

A few minutes later, Katie ran down the stairs to the Common Room.

"Katie!" Angelina immediately spotted her and beckoned her over.

"Yeah?" Katie walked over to where Angelina and Alicia stood, standing next to the Weasley twins and their known accomplice, Lee Jordan.

"We're making Quidditch plans." Alicia informed her.

"Why?" Katie asked curiously. "Shouldn't that be up to the school?"

"Quidditch was canceled this year 'cause of the Triwizard Tournament." Lee replied.

"Oh. Wow, that sucks! I was really looking forward to it!" Katie exclaimed, "But, shouldn't we include Harry? He was on the Quidditch team too."

Fred waved it off, "The only way we'll be able to play Quidditch on our own is if we break about a dozen school rules."

"And because we'll be doing that, we can't have the group be too big."

"If we did, it would attract more attention."

"Which, it turn, would heighten our chances of getting caught."

"Plus, if we brought the Golden Boy, we likely get some unwanted followers watching us."

"Or at the very least, Granger and Ronnikins."

"Neither of which would help much." the twins switched back and forth, explaining the reasoning behind it.

"Alright, makes enough sense." Katie nodded, happiness swelling in her that they at least thought to include her.

"But, never mind that just now," Lee said, "Come on, let's get to breakfast. You two beautiful ladies can fill in Her Majesty on what we discussed while on our way there." He playfully winked at Angelina and Alicia, before grinning sheepishly at Katie. _Her Majesty? Her Majesty!? What is Jordan playing at!?_ Katie freaked out inside, while the twins laughed and Angelina glared. Alicia, being use to his flirtatiousness, easily brushed the cheesy compliment off.

They made their way out of the Common Room and into the Great Hall; along the way, Angelina and Alicia explained to Katie the plan for "Secret Quidditch."

After eating breakfast, George, Jordan, and Alicia slipped away to nick the brooms out of the castle, while Fred lead Angelina and Katie to the spot they had picked. It was an empty, grassy field; far from the castle, where, according to Fred, no one would find them.

"Here we are!" Katie heard George exclaim as he ran up to them, Alicia and Jordan in tow. All three of them were each carrying a broom.

"We were only able to get a hold of three brooms before we heard that Mad-Eye Doody guy turn the corner." George explained when he saw the skeptical looks.

"Alright, since there's six of us and only three brooms, we can take even turns." Fred said easily, "We won't be able to play any sort of proper Quidditch game, but at least we can fly some today."

"Why don't the ladies fly first, and then we can do the second round?" Jordan suggested.

"Alright!" Angelina said eagerly.

"Um, actually, I think I'm not going to fly today." Katie admitted softly.

"What? Why?" Alicia asked.

"It just seems pointless to fly around without being able to play any games. So I'll just sit and watch you guys."

"Are you sure?" Angelina asked, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine!" Katie reassured.

"Okay then, Lee counts as a girl!" Fred suddenly declared.

"Wait a minute! What? No I don't!" Jordan burst out, appearing to be quite offended.

"Come on, Jordan. Just fly with us!" Alicia encouraged, picking up one of the brooms that was laying on the ground. Angelina was already holding onto hers.

Jordan finally sighed, "Alright." He grabbed a hold of his broom and they flew into the air.

"Let's play catch!" Alicia called, "Could you guys throw that ball up here?" she shouted down to the twins.

"Sure thing, Ali!" George responded.

"Up, up, and away!" Fred called in a childish voice while throwing the ball to Alicia.

"Woo-hoo!" Angelina cheered clapping her hands, "This is _so_ awesome!"

The game began and they all whizzed around in the air for almost an hour before George finally asked for them to come down,

"Let _us_ have a go..." He whined, making a puppy face; his twin joining in. Katie highly doubted that the three could see the faces from that high up, but nonetheless, they flew down. As they were doing so, Lee, for whatever reason, sped around the group to reach the bottom. Angelina and Alicia landed safely, and just as they went to look to see where Jordan went, they heard him yell,

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" He instantly loss control of the broom and dived down towards the ground, the front of his broom caught on a tuft of grass a he was flipped off of it.

"LEE!" the twins cried in unison, running over to him; the three girls joined them in rushing to Jordan's side.

"Are you alright, mate?" George asked, grasping hold of Jordan's shoulder.

"Yeah..." Jordan blinked and managed to croak out, "but I don't think that bird is."

"Bird?" Angelina questioned looking around the field, the others did the same.

"Yeah, it came out of no where and hit me in the face."

"Over there!" Katie cried, quickly getting up and running over to where she spotted the lump in the grass.

"Jeez, Katie, it's just a bird! You don't have to nurse it!" Angelina called to her, getting up more slowly, Alicia did the same while Fred and George helped stand Lee up.

"Birds are living creatures, too, you know. They can feel pain just as easily as us." Katie called back; she gently picked up and inspected the bird.

"Katie!" Alicia cried in exasperation and shock, "You could get fleas or something!"

"Shh." She hushed them as they got closer. The bird was breathing rapidly and it's eyes were closed, as Katie looked closer she noticed that it's wing was bent backwards. _Probably from hitting Lee's hard head full on._

"What are you doing?" Fred whispered, bending over. The others had gathered around her as well.

"I'm checking to see if there's anything I can do." Katie gently put the bird back down on the ground. She laid it on it's back and flattened the unbent wing out, studying it for a moment. The bird twitched and stirred slightly, but it seemed to be in too much pain to move much.

Katie slipped her fingers under the bent wing carefully and, while using her other hand to keep the bird still, she adjusted the bird's injured wing to lay like the other wing was. She felt a little pop, and the bird squirmed under her grasp.

She picked the bird up, and it folded its wings, pressing them against its side. Katie cupped her hands under the bird, and held it close to her like a child.

"Do you feel better now, little bird?" Katie whispered softly, cradling the finch. A little wary a first, but quickly relaxing, the bird slightly snuggled up to Katie.

"Wow." George whispered after a moment.

"You're amazing with animals." Fred finished, in the same whispered voice.

Katie smiled slightly and continued to gaze at the finch, "Thanks."

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